City taps former Polson city manager as interim manager

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

The Columbia Falls City Council Tuesday was expected to hire Mark Shrives of Polson as its interim city manager.

Former Police Chief Clint Peters was filling in that role. His last day was Aug. 30.

Shrives has more than 20 years experience as a city manager, including as the city manager of Polson. He retired from that position in 2018.

Shrives will serve in the Columbia Falls interim role for about six months, which gives the city time to begin its third search for a city manager.

The previous two candidates fell through. The city was about a day from hiring Ben Billingsley of Moab, Utah for the post, but he dropped out in late August citing family issues.

Dennis Stark of Nevada was the first finalist, but a background check later found he had an ethics violation for which he was sanctioned by that state about 12 years ago, so the city declined to offer him a contract.

This latest effort will be the third go-round for the city.

Shrives will be paid $5,192.30 biweekly. He is not eligible for health insurance and other benefits, but his contract calls for a monthly housing expense of not more than $1,500 a month.

The city council did add provisions for a city cell phone and for mileage, as Shrives will have to commute back and forth to Polson for about a week before his housing is available here.

The city manager post was left vacant after former city manager Susan Nicosia retired at the end of June. She is still doing contract work for the city, such as completing the ‘24-’25 budget and wrapping up some large grants that the city was awarded during her tenure.